ALSARI, JACOB:

Teacher of Hebrew and grammarian, who for eighteen years lectured in Hebrew in Zerkowo, Prussian Poland, near the Russian frontier. His son Joseph, born in Zerkowo in 1805, claims to have translated the family name into German, and acquired a reputation as Julius Fürst. Jacob Alsari wrote "Dore Ma'alah" on Angelology and on accents. He was also the author of a religious poem and notes to the Targumim. None of these works has been published. The name is said to be originally Arabic.